A gust of warm August wind blew through my hair as I sat bored on the bench. What a great birthday gift, I thought frustrated. Instead of enjoying turning 17 at a bar or talking to guys, I got to spend my birthday sitting on carnival chair with nothing to do.

Jasmine (my sister, the one who arranged this "special surprise") was playing hard to get with some stranger and all my friends bailed and left already. Figures, though I don't blame them. I would have left already except Jas won't let me go. Might as well get one last Ferris wheel ride out of this before I break up her wannabe love fest.

I stood up and made my way over to the empty ride. As I approached the ticket master, I thought about sneaking away while Jas was distracted. I turned to see if she was looking and walked right into the person in front of me.

WHAMB! I fell flat on my butt and dropped the last ticket I had, and watched sadly as it fluttered away in the breeze.

"Sorry," I muttered, "I wasn't looking where I was...." My voice dissipated when I saw the handsome man standing above me.

"That's alright." He leaned down and lifted me back up onto
my feet.

"Just be careful next time ok? Your aren't hurt are you?" His worried expression bore into me as I dusted myself off.

"No worries, just a dirty butt. But my ticket is gone!" I stared longingly in the direction of where it had blown off to.

"How about I give you one of mine? Since I knocked you down and all." He took my hand and pulled me to the Ferris wheel before I could turn him down. He gave the ticket master two and we sat down in the seats.

As the ride started up, I did my best to tear my eyes away from him, his rippling muscles and black hair. However, he looked over at me and I quickly turned away, embarrassed at being caught ogling him.

"Uh... My names Jimmy. Jimmy Sullivan." He said awkwardly.

"I'm Marrisa Smith. But everyone calls me Mari." We sat there in silence a little longer before he turned back to me.

"Say, do you live close by? Or are you here visiting a relative, or...?" I looked at him startled, wondering how that question got into his head.

"I'm sorry, that was weird. It's just, your so beautiful, and I just.. I'm sorry, I'm ruining the ride for you." I got up carefully, and moved over into the same seat as him.

"It's ok, your not ruining anything. I live here, but I want to move to New York as soon as I'm eighteen. It's my birthday today, and I only have one more year until I can. How about you?"

"Oh, I'm seventeen too. But I have an aunt here and she's gotten really sick so my mom and I are here to take care of her." We started talked more after that, and I learned he was taking drum lessons, and I told him about how I wanted to be an artist.

I don't know what it was about him, but he just stirred a feeling in me that no other guy had made me feel before. By the time the ride ended, I had completely forgotten about leaving. Jas was talking to the ticket master when Jimmy and I jumped off the seats.

"Are you ready to go?" Jas asked expectantly. I brushed her off and told her to go home if she wanted, and then Jimmy pulled me away. It was the best birthday I had ever had. I think this is the first time the carnival ever made a profit, because we spent all our money taking pictures in the photo booth, getting on rides, and he even paid for us to get matching tattoos.

By the time Jas and I left, I had 10 photos of Jimmy, 3 different toys we won, and a tattoo of a skull with wings. I gave him my number before he left, but wasn't sure if I would hear from him, since he was supposed to be leaving soon.

At the time, I didn't think I would ever hehear from him again. Oh, how wrong I was...

Notes

Stick around this thing has A LOT more chapters! Thanks for reading :)